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Board of Directors

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation, Inc

Board of Directors

July 2014

Michael E. Urette, Chair, is the founder and chief executive of Great American Corporation in Tampa. The thirty-two year old family-run company is a diversified real estate construction, development, and management company. He has been active in the Tampa community for over 30 years holding a variety of civic positions focused on the arts and support for the military. As Chairman of the Building Committee at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, he was responsible for over-seeing the construction of the 45,000sf Patel Conservatory. He was recognized with the 2010 Impact Award by Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture & the Arts. Michael and his wife, Karen, are also donors to the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay History Center and the Tampa Theatre. He has been president of the local Military Affairs Committee, the West Point Society and Leadership Tampa Alumni. Michael is currently an active member of the American Committee on Foreign Relations, the Society of International Business Fellows, and Tampa Yacht and Country Club. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, and holds advanced degrees in Operations Research and Economics from Indiana University. He and Karen have two children, Garrison and Tara Urette Hood, who have been active participants in the family business. He is a tennis player and a piano student, with no fame in either pursuit. He has been a Director of The Ringling since 2009 and past Chair of the Development Committee and the Budget, Finance and Investment Committee.

Paul G. Hudson, Vice Chair, is a Managing Director and Private Client Advisor at U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. He is a Sarasota-based wealth management advisor who leads team efforts for new client engagements, deepening existing relationships and providing high net worth clients and wealthy families with access to the comprehensive array of U.S. Trust® capabilities and services. Paul is a senior wealth management executive with over 21 years of professional experience in delivering customized and sophisticated financial, tax, trust and investment planning strategies to wealthy clients and their families to help them pursue their financial and philanthropic goals. He became part of U.S. Trust for a variety of reasons, particularly because the firm is in the business of providing clients with guidance on their wealth, developing and executing a strategy tailored to their needs, and helping ensure that the plans they adopt are aligned with their unique objectives. Paul received his B.S. in finance from Florida State University and is a graduate of Cannon Trust School. He has served on a variety of not-for-profit boards throughout his career, both on a local and statewide basis.

Jane Skogstad, Secretary, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, received a B. A. degree from FSU with a major in English. After her marriage to Sam Skogstad (also an FSU grad), college professor and foreign service officer, they lived abroad before returning to Atlanta where Jane pursued her interest in art and design. There she graduated with a degree in Interior Design from Georgia State University. Pursuing a career in commercial interior design, Jane worked principally for Rich's, a division of Federated Stores. Jane became active in the American Society of Interior Designers, serving as committee chairman and officer at the local and national levels and president of the Georgia Chapter, ASID for two terms. Returning overseas with Sam in the 1980s, Jane became involved with art at the local level, serving as a part-time volunteer in the Education Department of the National Gallery of Jamaica. She also served as an active member of the American Women's Association there and in subsequent posts, and as President of the 300 member multi-national American Women's Association in Cairo. Jane and Sam (a former member of the FSU Foundation Board) live part time in Dallas, Texas near daughter, Dana (FSU) and at least half the year in Sarasota near son, Sam III of Miami. They have two granddaughters, Ashley (FSU #2011) and Holly, nine years old, a confirmed Texan.

Nancy J. Parrish, Treasurer, is a private investor and collector. Nancy was founding co-chair of Human Rights Watch, northern California Chapter. She served two terms as Development Trustee of Friends of UCSF’s Dept. of Psychiatry’s Hospital Board, focusing on the creation of a children’s center. Nancy served as a board member and Chief Negotiator with the federal government for Plum Orchard Foundation, whose mission was to preserve the historic Carnegie estate within the Cumberland Island National Seashore. She currently serves as Vice President and Development Chair of The Children’s Guardian Fund of Sarasota. Prior to 1996, Nancy was founder and managing partner of Parrish, Smith Associates, a southern-based consulting firm. Nancy is a native Floridian. She is married to Chuck Parrish, co-founder of Phone.com (PHCM) now Openwave Systems, Inc. (OPWV) and Chairman of the Board of Family Independence Initiative. The Parrishes have two grown children and reside in Sarasota, Fl. and Martha’s Vineyard, MA..

Martin A. Arch created MARCO Convention Supplies, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania business specializing in the sale of identification items and promotional products to the Meeting Industry. He sold the business after 40 years and retired to Sarasota in 1994. Marty is a graduate of Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, PA and the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania majoring in journalism and marketing. He has served on many Boards including the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Florida Holocaust Museum in St Petersburg. He has served as a volunteer locally at The Pelican Man, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, GWIZ, and the Asolo Theatre. Marty and his wife Barbara volunteer considerable time weekly at the Ringling Museum. Marty is a long time member and supporter of the Ringling Museum and the Volunteer Services Advisory Council.

Madeleine H. Berman, a pianist and former music writer for the Birmingham Eccentric, has long been active with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Humane Society of Michigan, the Detroit Zoo and Americans for the Arts. Ms. Berman serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Americans for the Arts and the Boards of Directors of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theater and the Detroit Zoological Institute. She previously served as Vice Chairperson of the Michigan Council of the Arts in 1984 and on the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in 1994. She and her husband Mandell “Bill” Berman provided the majority of the costs for the new Berman Center for the Performing Arts at the Jewish Community Center in Detroit. The Bermans have a residence on Longboat Key.

Thomas J. Charters - Tom has a Sarasota history stretching back to the 1960s when his father and mother retired here. Tom and his wife Ann bought their first home in Sarasota in 1983 while they were living in Korea and Tom was with Citibank and Ann with the Financial Times. They visited often during dual 25 year careers abroad which, in addition to Korea, included multiple stints in Brazil and Venezuela. Returning to the United States in 1995 Tom was for 15 years the President of PCFG Advisory, Inc. a New York- based family office for Latin American investors. They have been Sarasota residents since 2003, and both their daughters were married on the grounds of the Ringling Museum. Tom is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, and has a BA from DePauw University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Daniel J. Denton, Treasurer, founded what is now Gulfshore Media in 1979, sold the company to national publisher CurtCo Media in 2004, and repurchased it—along with its 22 publications across Florida. Sarasota Magazine and its sister publication, Biz941, took seven awards at the Florida Magazine Association annual conference, and President and Group Publisher Dan Denton was honored with induction into the Florida Magazine Association Hall of Fame. Gulfshore Media publishes Sarasota Magazine, Biz941, Gulfshore Life, Gulfshore Business, the Homebuyer family of magazines across Florida, and a variety of contract and special publications. The company has offices in Sarasota and Naples.

Rebecca Donelson, Art Dealer; After working at the Corcoran Museum, Washington DC, The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC and at The Art Institute of Chicago, she opened her own gallery, The Dart Gallery, in Chicago specializing in Contemporary Art representing some of the great artists of the last forty years: Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, David Smith, Jim Dine, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons, Sam Gilliam and Frank Stella. She serves on the International Council of Anderson Ranch, Snowmass, CO, is a Fellow at The Aspen Institute and works with the Aspen Film Festival and Youth Entity in Carbondale, CO. Rebecca shares her time between Sarasota and Aspen.

George R. Ellis, of St. Petersburg, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Chicago, and was advanced to candidacy for the PhD at UCLA. He first served as an arts educator, and later the Assistant Director of the Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama and later held positions at the UCLA Museum of Cultural History (now The Fowler Museum). He served as the consulting editor to African Arts magazine and as a board member for the Los Angeles Ethnic Arts Council and the UCLA Associates for Ethnic Art. He was a Kress Foundation Fellow. After joining the Honolulu Academy of Arts as its Director and President in 1982, he oversaw a 21-year period of development and expansion of its facilities and programs including the addition of the award-winning Luce Pavilion. He was the recipient of numerous awards including a Maile Award from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, and the Alfred Preis Award from the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education, recognizing his lifetime commitment to the arts and arts education of Hawaii’s children and their families. George retired from the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 2008 and continues to serve as an arts consultant and curator.

Kenneth J. Feld is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Feld Entertainment, Inc., the world’s largest live entertainment company. Founded in 1967, family owned and operated Feld Entertainment produces some of the best known family entertainment brands, including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Disney On Ice, Disney Live, Super Cross and Monster Jam, and entertains over 30 million fans a year worldwide. Kenneth’s philanthropic interests include the establishment in 1995 of the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation, a facility dedicated to the preservation of the endangered Asian elephant, and the Feld Family Foundation which focuses on the support of the arts, children’s health and education organizations. He is a trustee of Boston University and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Boston University School of Management. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC. A resident of Tampa, Florida, Kenneth and his wife Bonnie are the proud parents of three daughters, Nicole, Alana and Juliette, who are carrying on the family tradition as senior executives at Feld Entertainment.

Dr. Frances Daly Fergusson, Ph.D. – Fran is President Emeritus of Vassar College. She served on the Mayo Clinic Board for 14 years, the last four years as its Chairman, and as President of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University, She has been a Director of HSBC Bank USA, Director at Wyeth, LLC and Pfizer Inc. She served on the Board of the Society of Architectural Historians of the United States and on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). She is a Graduate of Wellesley College with special honors in Art History. She holds a Master's and Doctorial Degrees in art history at Harvard University. Her teaching career began as an Assistant Professor of Art at Newton College. She served as a tenured professor of Art at Vassar, as Associate Professor of art at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and as an Assistant Chancellor of the University. She is the recipient of many honors and awards and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association in 1999.

Darrel E. Flanel is a lifetime resident of Sarasota. Mr. Flanel is a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the healthcare investment banking group. Mr. Flanel has over 30 years of investment banking experience primarily serving non-profit hospitals, universities and cultural organizations. He has completed transactions aggregating in excess of $30 million as well as advising on mergers and acquisitions in excess of $5 billion. Mr. Flanel has served on the board of the New York Dram League. In February 2011, the Secretary of the Air Force selected Mr. Flanel for the Air Force National Security Forum at the Air War College. In 2008, The Secretary of Defense selected Mr. Flanel for the JCOC-76 program that included study at the Pentagon followed by travel throughout the US European Command. Mr. Flanel is a board member of the Kaplan Service Organization that provides a forum for education of civilian leaders on current defense topics and support of active duty military personnel. Mr. Flanel holds a Bachelor of Science and an MBA from Florida State University.

Casey Gonzmart is the great-grandson of the founder of the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City. He is a member of the Industry Liaison Council for the International Hospitality & Tourism Management program at Saint Leo University. He is the past chairman of the Ybor City Development Corporation and past chairman of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce in Tampa, Florida. Casey resided in Sarasota, Florida for over 20 years. He served as president of the St. Armands Circle Association, and as president of the Suncoast Foundation for Handicapped Children. He served on the board of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Mote Marine Laboratory. He was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame and he received the Vicente Martinez Ybor Legacy Award, given by the Ybor City Museum Society. Casey was also honored by the City Commission of Sarasota as an Outstanding Citizen of Sarasota, and was named Business Person of the Year. Casey and his wife, Heidi, live in Tampa. Casey has six children who represent the 5th generation.

Priscilla M. Greenfield is a native of Dade County. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences. She later served as regional director for Lord & Taylor and worked for the Center for the Fine Arts in Miami. Mrs. Greenfield has dedicated much of her time to serving her community by being active in various organizations and associations. She is a former member of Art in the Public Places, the Historical Society of Southern Florida and a former board member of the Bass Museum. Currently, she is a member of Beaux Arts of the Lowe Museum and Dade Heritage Trust and was appointed to the City of Miami Health Facilities Board.

Patrick J. Hennigan, PhD, retired in 2006 as Managing Director and Co-Head of Morgan Stanley's investment banking group in New York specializing in tax-exempt and taxable financing for colleges, universities, museums, think tanks, and foundations. His team served as bankers to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Kennedy Center, the Rand Corporation, and the Mellon Foundation. In 1989 and 1990, investors voted him among the top municipal analysts in the U.S. His interest and research in public finance developed when he was a professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York where he taught government finance. Prior to his education and finance careers, he worked in local government and for the Governor's Office in Pennsylvania. He completed his MPA and Ph.D. at Syracuse University, MA in Education at George Washington University, and AB at Catholic University of America. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, on the audit committee of the New York Athletic Club, and more recently on the Board of the New College Foundation.

Jeffrey R. Hotchkiss is a retired President of Teradyne (NYSE:TER), a Boston based manufacturer of systems for the testing of electronic products. In Mr Hotchkiss’ thirty eight year career at Teradyne, he has held roles in various sales, marketing, and division management positions, including Chief Financial Officer from 1997-1999. In 2000, he founded Empirix Inc. and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for four years, before returning to Teradyne as President of the Systems Test Group. He retired from Teradyne in July of 2012. Mr. Hotchkiss is currently on the Board of Overseers for the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and serves on the Research Oversight Committee. He is also on the board of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) New England Chapter and serves as the Chairman of the Audit Committee. He has previously served on the board of numerous high tech start-ups in the Boston area including, Empirix, Goldwire Technology, Hammer Technology, and RSW Software. He also served on the Advisory Board for the International MBA Program at Suffolk University and lectures at the Suffolk Graduate School of Finance. Mr Hotchkiss has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University and a Masters in Management Science from The Sloan School at MIT. Jeff and his partner Betsy Winder reside on Longboat Key, Florida and spend their summers in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Dorothy C. Jenkins is a member of the Board of Governors at Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, Florida and a past Chair of its Board of Directors. She is a member of the Advisory Board at Tri-County Peace River Center, a Board Member at Westlake Chemical Company in Houston, Texas, a Trustee at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and a member of Neurological Institute National Council at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. She has also served as a Trustee at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida and as a Board Member at Bok Tower and Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. She has previously served as a gubernatorial appointed Trustee and member of the Board of Directors of the Ringling Museum and past Chair of its Board of Directors. She is a longtime friend and supporter of the Ringling Museum. She is a graduate of Wellesley College with a B.A. in Mathematics. Her husband, Charles Jenkins, Jr., is Chairman of the Board at Publix Supermarkets, Inc. They have two children, a daughter Jennifer and a son Anthony.

Thomas W. Jennings, PhD., is the first person to hold the position of vice president for University Advancement at Florida State University. In this role, Jennings oversees the Florida State University’s Alumni Association, Foundation, Real Estate Foundation, Ringling Museum and Seminole Boosters. Jennings joined Florida State from the University of Virginia, where he served as assistant vice president for School Programs and Institutional Priorities, a position he held from January 2008 until joining Florida State in September 2010. During more than eight years with UVA, Jennings served as senior development officer for special projects in the central development office and as associate dean for development in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. At Arts & Sciences, Jennings led the early strategic planning and implementation of a $500 million comprehensive campaign. As assistant vice president at UVA, Jennings directed all fundraising activities that supported the university's initiatives for historic preservation as well as those for pan-university initiatives in the arts, sciences and technology. Jennings served as a key member of senior management in development and public affairs and was instrumental to the success of UVA's current $3 billion comprehensive campaign. Jennings is a respected leader within the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), delivering numerous presentations at CASE's District III annual conferences and serving as co-chair for the philanthropy program track in 2009 and 2010. He presided as co-chair for the CASE District III annual conference in 2012. A native of Delaware, Jennings earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in psychology from James Madison University and his doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Virginia.

Patricia R. Lombard is a native of Manhattan and moved to Sarasota in 1996. She earned a BA from Hunter College, an MA from NYU, and an MBA from Pace University. While earning her graduate degrees, she worked for Wells, Rich Greene advertising agency. Later, she managed the David Findlay Art Gallery on Madison Avenue. Mrs. Lombard has dedicated much of her time to serving her community by being active in several associations and organizations.

Thomas B. Luzier is a native Sarasotan where he has practiced law since 1991. He received his BA from Emory University and his Juris Doctorate from the Cumberland School of Law. Tom was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1991, and is a member of the Sarasota County Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Tom’s civic affiliations include causes that promote the diversification of Sarasota’s economy, and the preservation of Sarasota’s cultural heritage. Tom is an executive member of the Board of Trustees of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where he most recently chaired its CEO Search Committee. He is also an executive member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Tampa-based WUSF Partners Board. Tom previously served as an executive member of the Historic Sarasota High School-New Life Committee, the Chair of the City of Sarasota Historic Preservation Board, and as a member of the Sarasota County Tourist Development Council. He is a graduate of Leadership Florida. Tom and his wife Allison divide their time between their homes in Sarasota and Tampa.

Michael R. Pender Jr joined the firm Cavanaugh & Co LLP, Certified Public Accountants in 1976 and was made a partner in 1980. He holds the CPA designation in the states of Florida and North Carolina. He also holds an ACFE designation of a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and AICPA specialty designations as a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) and is a member of the AICPA Tax Section. He served as President of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants 2010-11. He has been on numerous committees and task force of the FICPA for the last 30 years. In addition, he has served as Treasurer of National, State and Local charitable organizations for many years. He received the FICPA outstanding public award in 2003. He has published articles in the Florida CPA Today on accounting issues. He has been a featured speaker at the FICPA Not-For-Profit Conference on the topics of “Private Foundations” and “Non Profit Governance”.

Michéle D. Redwine, is an educator with 35 years of executive – leadership experience in not-for-profit organizations, public sectors, educational institutions and local government entities. Michele holds degrees in fine arts and (EEO) equal employment opportunity studies and has developed a variety of new programs to create a winning tradition of educational excellence. She is recognized as a visual arts instructor, an accomplished executive with expert knowledge in diversity education linking education and business in the execution of programs that support institutional diversity vision, recruitment, awareness programs, and cultural learning. Michele has been appointed by Governors and Mayors to serve on a number of museum and community Board of Trustees from Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia. She collaborates with others in forging developmental ground work engaging local/regional support to advance policy and program issues. Finally, Michele is a community advocate and spokesperson for the importance of re-shaping today’s schools for tomorrow’s world.

Ina L. Schnell has a background which reflects a focus on themes central to her being: Devotion to the arts through participation in significant cultural organizations, enhancing the role of the library through an innovative Sarasota Reading Festival, the 2002 On the Edge Sarasota Festival of performing and visual arts to develop new audiences, a committed activist in support of child advocacy programs are among those themes. Her participation with outstanding arts and cultural organizations includes such groups as the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, Shakespeare and Company, Lenox MA, The Music Theatre Performing Group/ Lenox Arts Center, Hancock Shaker Village and Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Composers Orchestra and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Her professional career focused on fashion merchandising and design. She is a graduate of Skidmore College, BA History and MA in Urban Affairs and Policy Analysis, New School for Social Research.

Linda Streit and her husband live most of the time in Tel Aviv, Israel, but also have a residence in Florida in Lakewood Ranch. She has been a lecturer in the Department of English and American Literature at Tel Aviv University since 1985. She has a wide variety of interests, particularly in the field of Drama Studies. Her courses include: Drama Analysis, Shakespeare, Elizabethan Drama, Jacobean Drama, Jacobean City Comedy and British Modern Drama. Linda received her Diploma in Literature in London in 1977; a B.A. in English Literature in Tel Aviv in 1981; an M.A. in British Dramatic Art in London in 1984; and a M.Phil. in British Dramatic Literature in London in 1998. Mr. Streit is CEP of the PFM Group, a leading provider of independent financial and investment advisory services. Linda is a member of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University. She is also an Executive Council Member of the Cameri Theatre and member of “Theatrical Event” working group of the International Federation for Theatre Research. She has organized numerous lectures, conferences and theater events. She is well published and an avid golfer. The Streits have been members of the Ringling Museum for several years at the Colleague Level.

Howard C. Tibbals of Knoxville, Tennessee, is known as a philanthropist dedicated to enhancing educational experiences. His love for the circus led him to the monumental project of creating the Howard Brothers Miniature Circus. This 3800 sf miniature circus, along with generous funds, has been donated to the FSU/Ringling Cultural Center for the Arts. His gift in 2000, which was matched by the state, funded the construction of the Circus Museum’s Tibbals Learning Center and established an endowment. In 2008, an additional donation from Mr. Tibbals was matched by the state to fund construction of an addition to the Tibbals Learning Center which is expected to be complete in Fall 2011. The first floor will showcase engaging exhibitions celebrating the history of circus performance. The second floor will establish the Tibbals Center for the Study of the American Circus and be well-equipped for research by scholars and curators. Mr. Tibbals is the 2001 recipient of the AFP Outstanding Philanthropist Award.

James B. (Jim) Tollerton is a lifetime Floridian. Educated in Sarasota public Schools and Florida State University ('68), Jim has been in the insurance and benefits business at Professional Benefits, Inc. since 1970, after serving as a Trust Officer. He is a long time Ringling Museum Ambassador. He is a graduate of Leadership Florida, Class IX. Jim has served on the boards of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Community Health Corporation, The Pines, YMCA, Sarasota Chamber, SunTrust Bank, SCOPE, Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal) as well as the FSU Alumni Association. Jim is married to Susan, with three children Thomas (FSU-'06) Taylor (FSU-'06) his partner at Professional Benefits, Inc. and Michael (West Point Class of 2011).

Clifford L. Walters, III is a Principal at the law firm of Blalock, Walters, Held & Johnson in Bradenton, Florida. Cliff concentrates on Business counseling and planning, complex real estate transactions, commercial law, and strategic estate planning. He graduated from Washington and Lee University B.A. and J.D., cum laude. He is Past President of the Manatee County Bar Association and member of the Florida Bar. He has also Past President of the Manatee County Chamber of Commerce; member of Manatee United Way; Economic Development Council of Manatee; Board of Trustees, University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee Campus. He received the Leadership Manatee “Distinguished Leadership Award 2000” and the Ed H. Price Humanitarian Award.

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation, IncBoard of Directors – Ex-Officio Members

Barbara A. Swan is the 2014-2016 Chair of the Docent Advisory Council at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Barbara has been a long time member of The Ringling and became and an active volunteer and docent in the Ca’d’Zan in 2010. She has served as Co-Chair of the Docent Advisory Council Communications Committee for the past two years. Prior to joining The Ringling, Barbara had a successful career in the home furnishings industry. For 30 years she worked first in retail as a buyer for the Federated Department Stores of Burdines and Macy’s. Then she moved into the wholesale end of the business as a manufacturer’s representative covering all of Florida to the design and furniture trade. She and her husband, Bob Swan, moved to Sarasota from Atlanta in 1985. Their love of boating took them to Siesta Key initially, and then their love of golf took them to Prestancia, a TPC golf community, where Bob is active in the Board of Governors. Barbara is a graduate of Ohio University, Athens, Ohio with a Summa Cum Laude dual degree of Bachelor of Science in Home Economics and Business. She is also an avid painter and has exhibited her work in local shows and venues.

Roberta J. Schaumleffel is the 2014-2016 Chair of the Volunteer Services Advisory Council (VSAC) at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. With a degree in Business, Bobbi Schaumleffel worked several years in the corporate arena before transitioning to the world of education in 1988. As Director of Marketing and Outreach for Marburn Academy—an independent school for bright children who learn differently—she developed a whole new respect for educators and the amount of responsibility and dedication required both in and out of the classroom. Although originally from Illinois, Bobbi and her husband, Lou, were living in Colombus, OH, when they decided to relocate to Sarasota in 2004. She values her time spent at The Ringling and her friends, and she appreciates the support system throughout the museum. Roberta says she feels privileged to be a volunteer and believes she shares the sentiment of all volunteers: “We are lucky to be part of this institution and to have the opportunity to share and protect the legacy left to us by John and Mable.”